SURPRISE!

[CincyFlyer]

Wouldn't a used oil filter leak oil all over and make the box an oily mess? Who would go to the trouble of returning a used filter to save the $6?

More like $18 with tax. And you don't have to return it; walk in with your drained used filter, swap it out, leave.

 

[Cderk]

Was changing the oil in a nephew's car and he had picked up some Mobil 1 oil and a Mobil 1 filter at Walmart. Everything went well until we pulled the "new" oil filter out of the box. We found a used filter in the box.

Open those boxes and double check.... Car will now sit on the lift and after work today when he will return my car with a new filter in hand.

My son purchased a 50" tv from Walmart and when he opened the box guess what? a broken tv!.

 

[Doofy]

We were, at one time, allowed to go behind the counter at NAPA and get our own parts until our local shyster mechanic was caught putting used spark plugs back on the shelf.

 

[tjandrews]

Wouldn't a used oil filter leak oil all over and make the box an oily mess? Who would go to the trouble of returning a used filter to save the $6?

That was my first thought, too. Is it possible that somebody got the filter home, tried to put it on, learned that it was the wrong one, and took it back for an exchange without doing a great job of cleaning it up after the attempt?

 

[stephenh]

And even if a customer is "caught" trying to do a return scam, nothing will be done. My wife's best friend recently quit a job in the security dept of a large chain store. She and a co-worker stopped two teenaged girls who had openly put on a couple of very expensive leather jackets and walked out with them. They were ordered to let the girls go and not to try to detain anyone doing the same in the future. Not a return scam, but same mentality. Supervisor told the employees they just needed to be around and be obvious to attempt to worry thieves enough maybe they would not steal. Pointless. The friend gave her notice that day and quit. By the way, they had the girls cold on the store's security videos.

 

[Doofy]

Received a very expensive counter top convection oven from the In-Laws for Christmas. Several months later when we unboxed it to use, it was filthy and covered in old grease spatter. Naturally, they were mortified. Amazon ate crow and sent out a new one.

 

[Gord Baker]

I remember a couple guys who would 'short dip' the oil and shove an empty can on the spout and 'add a quart'. Charge the customer for a quart.
This was back when there were Real Service Stations. It's the people these days..............

 

[nickfank]

Another reason not to shop at Walmart. But I guess this could happen anywhere. But at the parts store, they probably inspect the returned item a bit better. No experience with that though.

I buy my filters from Amazon or Rock Auto. Usually better prices than NAPA or O'Reilys anyway.

When I read the original post, my first thought was of when this happened to me buying a v-belt from Amazon. Even more bizarre... It happened twice on the same item.

I returned the belt with the explanation of the problem. A week later, they replaced it with exactly the same used belt, in the same package I returned it in, including my note. The second time, I used a marker to black out the scanner code on the package so they couldn't return it to inventory without a human looking at my note.

The only way to communicate a problem to a real person at Amazon is to break their automated warehousing system.

 

[Raul-02]

Wouldn't a used oil filter leak oil all over and make the box an oily mess?

put it in a poly bag.